A Guild of Lovely Maidens and Lovely Hearts
Dark Pasts and Bright Futures (Part 1) Erin Nakano, the guild master of the Lovely Maiden Guild walked into the guild hall after coming back from a guild masters' conference and was immediately greeted with a warm and loving, “Welcome Back!” from her guild family. She smiled at all of the happy faces who were patiently awaiting her safe return to the guild. “I'm back everyone. I hope everyone was on their best behavior while I was away?” She asked in a motherly tone while looking at each and every face and failing to hide a grin. “Of course we were auntie.” said a grinning Saki. “Yeah, best behavior!” Ayumi chimed. “Well, maybe not all of us,” said Shinju. “I heard that Sarah destroyed a house on her last mission.” she said with her best poker face on. Erin looked at Shinju, who was now ruffling an annoyed Sarah's hair. "Milady, that's not true. Shinju's lying!" She yelled at Shinju. "Stop messing up my hair!" Of course Shinju didn't listen to her and continued to bother her. Erin knew that Shinju was lying, Sarah was a good girl and had never destroyed anything in her life. She never received any complaints about damages from her anyway. The mischievous red haired gunner and former assassion. Shinju Albereo was her full name, but long discarded her last name and preferred to just go by Shinju. She loved teasing and picking on Sarah, who was now making a very bold comment to the others about Shinju. Erin was just about to scold Shinju about teasing her younger guild mate when a quick flash from a memory appeared in Erin's mind and disappeared just as fast as it appeared. The memory was one she remembered well. It was of a young girl with red hair and red eyes, holding a gun and glaring at a dead corpse in a alleyway. Erin was walking by when she noticed the scene. The girl turned around and looked at her. “Oh,” She said to herself, the memory stopping her dead in her tracks. “I remember the face she made back then so clearly. She had so many emotions in her eyes, I'll never forget that look on her face for as long as I live.” Erin watched the girls of the guild laughing at the joke Sarah bravely made about Shinju and laughed even harder when Shinju blushed red and started chasing her around the guild hall. “So much hate and anguish, fear and betrayal, and so much sadness.” She said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. Erin then looked at Shinju again and saw her wild and playful smile remembering her frown from the memory. She looked at her eyes, noting that the negative emotions she saw in her eyes that day have long vanished. The only thing she saw in them now, were guilt. Erin leaned on a nearby pillar and watch her "daughters" talking and laughing. Some at inside jokes and others at each others facial expressions, in which Erin didn't get. She shrugged it off and continued looking at the girls. “Each and every one of us has a past that we want to forget, huh?” She said nonchalantly. “We've also gotten stronger because of the friends we have now.” She was saying to herself and with that, Erin started remembering how she met each of the members. She looked at Akane, who was laughing at Shinju and Sarah. “You used to be nothing but a spoiled little brat who thought little of other people and their feelings, you used to look down on everyone” She said to herself. “Now you've made many precious friends that you treat as your equals, they mean the world to you and you love them more than you love yourself.” She glanced at Emiko and the two sisters Akemi and Hotaru beside Akane. “You three too, Emiko, Akemi, and Hotaru, you all came from a abusive family and look how strong and brave you three have become. Nothing but smiles” She looked at each of the guild members and named their past hardship. Hitomi, who was eating her favorite food and smiling like a little kid in a toy store, was kidnapped from her village and tortured. Fumiko was laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach. She suffered greatly from terrible experiments that sought to enhance a persons' magical energy. Sasha, who was sitting at the end of the bar smiling at Fumiko was one of the researchers in this horrid experiment, who regrets ever taking part. A smiling Caroline, who killed her abusive lover. Katherine, who tended the bar, had loved her lover very much, but lost him because of a mistake caused by her. Crystal, who sat at the bar who's able to drink as much as yours truly, slept with people for money. Sakura, who was literally rolling on the floor laughing, was consistently raped by her step-father, with a mother who didn't care. Tsukiko, who was snickering, had a abusive, alcoholic of a mother. My niece, Saki, who was still grinning, had lost her mother and my sister in childbirth. Her father blamed Saki and tried to kill her. I stop him and he ended up commiting suicide, afterward I took Saki in. Momoiro and Ayumi, together were dancing and laughing, who lost their entire villages to bandit raids, with Ayumi losing her beloved brother because he was protecting her. The beautiful and talented Chloe, who started singing a beautiful duet along with Yuzuki, had suffered from depression and used to cut herself. Ren, who joined in with Ayumi and Momoiro, was outcasted and bullied in her hometown. Naomi, who was talking with Caroline, was sold as a slave in her younger years. Setsuko who was paying no mind to the others and was focusing on her dessert in front of her, had escaped slave life and lived on the streets. Sayuri, who was giggling uncontrollably, was molested at age 6. Tsubaki, who was grinning at the running pair, had accidentally killed a man. Mika and Miki, who were grinning at each other, are the sisters whose parents abandoned them. Aoi, was sitting beside Setsuko eating, who would steal and pickpocket to get by. Miyuki, who was talking to Katherine and Sarah, who was still being chased, where both orphaned at young ages. Yuzuki, singing along with Chloe, had lived in an alleyway since she was 8 and was treated like she was a stray animal when people saw her. “All of my girls are pretty amazing.” Erin said with eyes closed, deep in thought. Erin however snapped out from her thoughts when Katherine called her over to the bar. Erin sat down for the usual and Katherine handed her a cup filled with her favorite alcoholic drink. Sake. “Welcome back, Milady.” Katherine chimed warmly. Already knowing the routine of the guild master. Whenever she sits at the bar, she always asks for her alcohol. It's become like second nature to her. Erin just nodded her head before taking a swig of her alcohol. “The guild sure is lively.” Katherine continued. “I think that every member is here except for Amaya.” Katherine said, expression turning sad. “I wonder if she hates us. She's never here in the guild hall and only comes when receiving a new mission.” Erin just sighed at the mention of her foster daughter's name. “I don't know what's wrong with Amaya, Katherine. She chooses to be alone for some reason, I don't even know why.” Erin thought back to one of the worst times in her life. When she was in the hospital after a accident that damaged a few of her internal organs and was told that she wouldn't be able to conceive. Erin had always wanted children and this took a heavy toll on her. She soon went into a short depression afterwards. Erin prayed every night that a miracle would happen. A miracle that somehow a child will be brought into her life. “Now that I think about it, I didn't specify how the child should be brought into my life.” Erin said while chuckling. “I still remember when I first found Amaya, it was about a week after hearing the bad news at the hospital. I found the child on the verge of death too.” Erin says aloud, but only loud enough for Katherine to hear. “She was a miserable looking little thing. That girl had lost so much, and I was surprised that she was still sane after she told me everything she's been through. I was sad that she was alone and so glad, that my prayers were answered. I thanked the heavens from the bottom of my heart.” Erin closed her eyes and fell silent. Katherine listening quietly while cleaning the glass cups. Erin sighed. “I decided to care for her, without hesitation.” She opened her eyes. Her face resting on her arm and her drink sitting on the counter, empty. “I grew so attached to her only after a few days of her being with me. I fed her, gave her clothing, and my undying love.” She then chuckled. “I remember the looks she used to give me.” A young, wary Amaya's face popped into her mind. “I don't think she trusted me, but it was understandable with everything she's been through. I was a complete stranger to her, no matter what I told her.” Erin paused and thought to herself. She probably didn't trust any adults, she used to be a slave after all. Erin sighed and then got up from the bar stool remembering the paperwork left on her desk before leaving for the conference. She thanked Katherine for the drink and excused herself. Everyone still laughing and having a good time as she walked to her quarters. Erin's quarters were pretty much like a office. It was a simple room with a desk and chair with a high stack of paperwork in the corner of the desk. Erin sat at her desk and started going through the high stack of paperwork which was her pile that was addressed from the Magic Council. Erin groaned out loud clearly showing her frustration. She hated getting letters from the Magic Council, mainly because most of them were just complaints about property damages. Her good mood now ruined because it was obvious that the fresh stack of papers in her “Magic Council pile” were obviously recent and that her little 'angels' (more like devils) had just lied to her. "Best behavior my ass." She said in a frustrated tone. "Now I see what they were laughing at. Hmph!" Erin then sighed, thinking that maybe she should consider retirement, I don't know if I can handle this much stress. She thought, getting angry again. “I love em', but these girls will be the death of me!” She yelled. Quickly skimming through the information on the paper in her hand, a particular name jumped out at her. “Kohaku” Come to think of it, she didn't see Kohaku in the guild hall earlier. For some reason she ended up thinking about her past hardship as well. The first time Kohaku's terrifying 'headaches' started. Category:Enter: The Lovely Maiden Guild